American tourist to be deported for operating Boracay resort

52-year old Randall Lee Parker is confronted by BI operatives at the Artienda Resort on Boracay Island. Picture courtesy of the BI.

Bureau of Immigration agents have arrested an American tourist for illegally operating a beach resort on Boracay island.

BI Commissioner Jaime Morente today (Monday, April 30) confirmed that 52-year old Randall Lee Parker was apprehended on April 25, just one day before Boracay was shut down for “environmental rehabilitation”.

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Parker was arrested by BI intelligence operatives inside The Artienda, formerly known as Crown Beach Hotel, the resort he has been accused of illegally operating at Boracay’s Station Two, Morente said.

The BI chief said that he ordered Parker’s arrest after a complaint was filed against him for running the resort without an appropriate work permit or visa.

“He will undergo deportation proceedings for illegally working in the country,” Morente said in a statement.

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He stressed that both the Labor Code and the Immigration Act “strictly forbid aliens from engaging in gainful activity unless they obtain a work permit from the labor department and employment visa from the BI”.

Morente said that Parker, who arrived in the country as a tourist, “blatantly violated the conditions of his stay as a temporary visitor” by engaging in such business activities.

She also said that Parker’s stay as a tourist was supposed to be extended up to June 14 before his illegal operation was discovered. Previously, the American had been a frequent visitor to the country since 2005.

“Existing laws that regulate the employment of aliens in the country are intended to ensure that their activities in the country are consistent with their immigration documentation,” Mangrobang said.

“The rule is that aliens holding tourist visas are not allowed to engage in any form of gainful employment or business activity,” she stressed.